First Lexus, looking to buy an IS250 2007-2010

[H3XME]

@DnG you still looking or you gave up?😆 I'll have my car for sale in the coming weeks but it's a manual and I'm after 6k. 

[DnG]

On 7/1/2024 at 9:57 AM, H3XME said:

@DnG you still looking or you gave up?😆 I'll have my car for sale in the coming weeks but it's a manual and I'm after 6k. 

Yeah still looking, not giving up, I'm too fixated on this car. I'm checking eBay and Auto Trader at least 3 times a day. There's 2 black ones that popped up, but they're the SE and SR version, hopefully a black SE-L will show up under £4k, a man can dream.

How come you're selling it? Are they that bad? lol 😆😆

[DnG]

Ok so a new SE-L just popped up, but it's looks really dodgy: https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202407041452031

Guy says he's an international student and that he's moving back to his home country, but by the price and pictures looks like the people from the car wash place robbed it and want to make a quick buck lol

[scudney]

I would be very careful with this one, mot also expires in less than 2 weeks 

[J Henderson]

I would echo that. But, if it really does just need the front brakes replaced to earn a fresh MOT, it could be a bargain.

[H3XME]

14 hours ago, DnG said:

 

How come you're selling it? Are they that bad? lol 😆😆

I'm upgrading to the 3.5l 🙂 

[DnG]

8 hours ago, J Henderson said:

I would echo that. But, if it really does just need the front brakes replaced to earn a fresh MOT, it could be a bargain.

I'm not going to risk it, even for that price. There might be something hidden I won't know until after I potentially buy it.

 

3 hours ago, H3XME said:

I'm upgrading to the 3.5l 🙂 

Niiice, don't see many of them in UK, guessing I'll be an import?

[H3XME]

48 minutes ago, DnG said:

I'm not going to risk it, even for that price. There might be something hidden I won't know until after I potentially buy it.

 

Niiice, don't see many of them in UK, guessing I'll be an import?

Yeah. Never sold in the UK.

[DnG]

Coming back with another update.

So I'm not giving up on finding my dream Lexus, but the recent insurance increase has put me back a few months...

Besides that, I haven't been able to find what I'm looking for, for the past few months there has been a lack of SE-L's within a 50 mile radius around Birmingham for some reason, especially under £4k, most SE-Ls seem to be £5.5k+, so I expanded my search area and found 2 SE-Ls 85 miles away. One's a September 2007 and the other one is a June 2010. Funny thing is that the 2010 one is grey on black and the 2007 is black on black (which is what I'm looking for) so one has the right colour combination and the other one is the facelift model, if only I can combine them 😞

Anyway, I've been looking for insurance and a few months back when I started looking for an IS250, I found a 2010 black on black, which Aviva quoted me £1.600 for, now, pretty much same car, maybe less miles, is £2.700 !!! However the 2007 is around £1.700 but why is there such a big difference in insurance when it's pretty much the same model? I'd understand a £100-200 increase for the litte gimmicks that the facelift model has, but a near £1k difference? Is that normal?

[H3XME]

33 minutes ago, DnG said:

Coming back with another update.

So I'm not giving up on finding my dream Lexus, but the recent insurance increase has put me back a few months...

Besides that, I haven't been able to find what I'm looking for, for the past few months there has been a lack of SE-L's within a 50 mile radius around Birmingham for some reason, especially under £4k, most SE-Ls seem to be £5.5k+, so I expanded my search area and found 2 SE-Ls 85 miles away. One's a September 2007 and the other one is a June 2010. Funny thing is that the 2010 one is grey on black and the 2007 is black on black (which is what I'm looking for) so one has the right colour combination and the other one is the facelift model, if only I can combine them 😞

Anyway, I've been looking for insurance and a few months back when I started looking for an IS250, I found a 2010 black on black, which Aviva quoted me £1.600 for, now, pretty much same car, maybe less miles, is £2.700 !!! However the 2007 is around £1.700 but why is there such a big difference in insurance when it's pretty much the same model? I'd understand a £100-200 increase for the litte gimmicks that the facelift model has, but a near £1k difference? Is that normal?

Insurance doesn’t make much sense, but online quotes go off set criteria so if an only quote comes out 1k more for a newer car it’s because it should in theory be a higher value.

Look for other models? SE-L isn’t really much of an upgrade in real life usability.. you won’t even know about the headlight washers and I’ve not come across anyone who’d be actively using the rear shade. Touch screen/camera was an option on all trims so if you just want leather look for SE? and as for the interior colour.: that’s minor. I converted my cream interior to black one for less than £300. Interior is cheap. 

[Linas.P]

1 hour ago, DnG said:

Besides that, I haven't been able to find what I'm looking for, for the past few months there has been a lack of SE-L's within a 50 mile radius around Birmingham for some reason, especially under £4k

That is not how you find Lexus, always look nationally. You have to be willing to travel if you want to find one that meets your criteria and which it is for right price. No sure sometimes you find car that is in the middle of nowhere and it is not worth traveling, but at least you know it exists, can negotiate on other car based on that fact.

Sure - you may be able to do this with BMW 3-Series where there are 3000+ for sale, but with IS250 where there are only 136 for sale and you arbitrarily limit yourself to 50 miles around Birmingham... then yes, I would be surprised if you find anything anytime soon.

[DnG]

3 hours ago, H3XME said:

Look for other models? SE-L isn’t really much of an upgrade in real life usability.. you won’t even know about the headlight washers and I’ve not come across anyone who’d be actively using the rear shade. Touch screen/camera was an option on all trims so if you just want leather look for SE? and as for the interior colour.: that’s minor. I converted my cream interior to black one for less than £300. Interior is cheap. 

I'm crazy for extra options in a car, I'd much rather spend a bit more and wait longer to find the one that has most/all the extras than regret not having them later down the line. I'm planning on keeping the car for a few years so I want to enjoy it and not feel bad for getting it (already happened with my BMW and I've already spent more than the car is worth, to add the missing extras and I'm still not done)

[DnG]

Also, just now thought of it. Any ideas how long the Ulez/Clean Air Zone exemption is for? I'm guessing since it's an Euro 4, the 2007 model won't be exempt for long.

[Linas.P]

12 hours ago, H3XME said:

SE-L isn’t really much of an upgrade in real life usability.. you won’t even know about the headlight washers and I’ve not come across anyone who’d be actively using the rear shade. Touch screen/camera was an option on all trims so if you just want leather look for SE? and as for the interior colour.: that’s minor. I converted my cream interior to black one for less than £300. Interior is cheap. 

I am actively using shade and kind of missed it in my RC F-Sport. SE didn't come standard with leather, only optional. SE was lowest trim, but some do have leather added as an option.

Sadly, it is now hard to trace all the specific things that SE-L had and other models did not, but SE-L is 100% the best equipped trim from factory and only had 4 options - Sat-Nav, ML, Sunroof, DCC. Everything else is standard. 

I tend to think SE-L gets heated/auto dimming mirrors. SE don't have them, not sure what other trims got them. Also memory seats (other trims get them as well F-Sport, SE-i).

The headlight washers are honestly waste of space, useless at cleaning headlights (actually makes them more dirty) and wastes a lot of washer fluid. The upgrade is Xenons with AFS, that SE-L gets and not all other models have and I personally think it is worthy upgrade, but I would do "washers delete" at a first opportunity.  

5 hours ago, DnG said:

Also, just now thought of it. Any ideas how long the Ulez/Clean Air Zone exemption is for? I'm guessing since it's an Euro 4, the 2007 model won't be exempt for long.

I don't believe there are any plans to change this at the moment. So I would bet at very least 5, maybe even 10 years. ULEZ expansion is already unpopular, making it tougher would be difficult. 

So the way I see it, they will be expanding the zones, without making them stricter... and only once ones all major cities are covered by current zone, only then they will start from London again. 

Besides I think they are counting on 2035 ICE ban, basically why bother with unpopular political decisions, when ICE cars will naturally decline anyway. 

Of course - one can only guess, because there is no science behind it - it is purely political.

[H3XME]

3 hours ago, Linas.P said:

I am actively using shade and kind of missed it in my RC F-Sport. SE didn't come standard with leather, only optional. SE was lowest trim, but some do have leather added as an option.

Sadly, it is now hard to trace all the specific things that SE-L had and other models did not, but SE-L is 100% the best equipped trim from factory and only had 4 options - Sat-Nav, ML, Sunroof, DCC. Everything else is standard. 

I tend to think SE-L gets heated/auto dimming mirrors. SE don't have them, not sure what other trims got them. Also memory seats (other trims get them as well F-Sport, SE-i).

The headlight washers are honestly waste of space, useless at cleaning headlights (actually makes them more dirty) and wastes a lot of washer fluid. The upgrade is Xenons with AFS, that SE-L gets and not all other models have and I personally think it is worthy upgrade, but I would do "washers delete" at a first opportunity.  

I think you’re getting some of the cars mixed up. For the 2IS IS250, the SE wasn’t the base spec car. It came with leather, heated & air con’d seats, heated mirrors and 17s as standard. The base spec car didn’t even have a proper trim level name. It was just “is250” or “v6”.. cloth interior, 16” wheels, manual seats etc.

SE-L & Sport are the “best” equipped cars. 
Both have auto dimming mirrors, electric memory seats, electric steering column that moves away when you turn the car off, both had xenon’s with headlight washers. Sunroof and Sat nav (ML) was an option on both. 

The difference is that Sport came with microsuede seats (not the same as Cloth in base or SR model) and aluminium pedals which SE-L doesn’t have. SE-L had the rear shade that was unique to the SE-L trim. As for radar CC that almost doesn’t matter because there was like 10 cars that had it in the uk. 

all I’m saying is, with a limited budget and not wanting to catch a train outside of the midlands, looking for a black on black SE-L will be a difficult and long process for minimal benefits in the real world. 

I’d be shopping for something I will use rather than something that’s just “nice to have”, but again, with a tight budget and high expectations you need to compromise somewhere. Retro fitting most stuff isn’t hard nor expensive. 

[DnG]

What price would you say is fair for this car: https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202407201989068

I feel like £3.700 is a bit much considering it's a 2007, the alloys were painted and not really good and the mufflers seem to sag a little so that might indicate corrosion (and considering £2k insurance, £415 tax, £200 1 day insurance to get it home + petrol & train tickets, my budget is cutting it close to £6k to get this car).

5 hours ago, H3XME said:

I’d be shopping for something I will use rather than something that’s just “nice to have”, but again, with a tight budget and high expectations you need to compromise somewhere. Retro fitting most stuff isn’t hard nor expensive. 

I figured there's no way I'll find what I'm looking for in Birmingham and as much as I want a newer car to avoid corrosion (a lot of IS250's I've looked at have really bad corrosion in the frame joints and that's pretty much a write-off), at least this 2007 is a September which means it has the improved plastics that let you use standard petrol more often.

Also, I don't mind retrofitting, I'm already doing it on my BMW, just not sure how easy it is. The other main reason I wanted a facelift is because of the turn signals in the side mirrors but I'll happily retrofit them.

[H3XME]

16 minutes ago, DnG said:

What price would you say is fair for this car: https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202407201989068

I feel like £3.700 is a bit much considering the alloys were painted and not really good and the mufflers seem to sag a little so that might indicate corrosion (and considering £2k insurance, £415 tax, £200 1 day insurance to get it home + petrol & train tickets, my budget is cutting it close to £6k to get this car).

I think that for £3500 you're not getting a bad deal there.

The service book looks okay. I can see the bumpers have scratches etc but 90% of them do. Dash could be a bit better, unfortunately it's a bit damaged & cracked around the top vents as you can see. The headliner is a bit dirty, but otherwise seems ok from the pics. If it doesn't rattle on a cold or hot start and if it doesn't burn oil, it should be fine 🙂 That's all I can say from just looking at the ad.

MOT history is not awful but it seems like it's been ran on a budget.. brakes have been flagged up multiple times etc. Minor stuff though.. Realistically, for £3500 it's a good car. Exhaust actually looks fine. Doesn't look to be sagging too much. It's normally that one side sags more than the other but these look pretty even actually. See what you can haggle on, but it's a dealer and it's a 17 years old car, so good luck.

EDIT: 

Just noticed that the "cup holder" inside the arm rest is missing and there is 3 kinds of wheel nuts on the pic of the front wheel..

[DnG]

3 minutes ago, H3XME said:

I think that for £3500 you're not getting a bad deal there.

The service book looks okay. I can see the bumpers have scratches etc but 90% of them do. Dash could be a bit better, unfortunately it's a bit damaged & cracked around the top vents as you can see. The headliner is a bit dirty, but otherwise seems ok from the pics. If it doesn't rattle on a cold or hot start and if it doesn't burn oil, it should be fine 🙂 That's all I can say from just looking at the ad.

MOT history is not awful but it seems like it's been ran on a budget.. brakes have been flagged up multiple times etc. Minor stuff though.. Realistically, for £3500 it's a good car. Exhaust actually looks fine. Doesn't look to be sagging too much. It's normally that one side sags more than the other but these look pretty even actually. See what you can haggle on, but it's a dealer and it's a 17 years old car, so good luck.

Nice eye, I did not see the vents cracks, I'm aiming to get it down to £3.500.

What from I've seen on other IS250s the valves do rattle so I'm not 100% sure what sound to listen out for. And as for the oil, I guess if he's a good car salesman he will clean everything and add fresh oil beforehand so that's something I'll have to check later down the road

[H3XME]

6 minutes ago, DnG said:

Nice eye, I did not see the vents cracks, I'm aiming to get it down to £3.500.

What from I've seen on other IS250s the valves do rattle so I'm not 100% sure what sound to listen out for. And as for the oil, I guess if he's a good car salesman he will clean everything and add fresh oil beforehand so that's something I'll have to check later down the road

You'll know when you hear it. It's like a chain rattle for 1s. It doesn't sound healthy at all but doesn't actually cause any issues.. it's just a good haggling tool really.

Yeah, you'll never know until some time later about the oil, but basically check for blue smoke as soon as you start the car.

[Linas.P]

7 hours ago, H3XME said:

I think you’re getting some of the cars mixed up. For the 2IS IS250, the SE wasn’t the base spec car. It came with leather, heated & air con’d seats, heated mirrors and 17s as standard. The base spec car didn’t even have a proper trim level name. It was just “is250” or “v6”.. cloth interior, 16” wheels, manual seats etc.

SE-L & Sport are the “best” equipped cars. 
Both have auto dimming mirrors, electric memory seats, electric steering column that moves away when you turn the car off, both had xenon’s with headlight washers. Sunroof and Sat nav (ML) was an option on both. 

The difference is that Sport came with microsuede seats (not the same as Cloth in base or SR model) and aluminium pedals which SE-L doesn’t have. SE-L had the rear shade that was unique to the SE-L trim. As for radar CC that almost doesn’t matter because there was like 10 cars that had it in the uk. 

all I’m saying is, with a limited budget and not wanting to catch a train outside of the midlands, looking for a black on black SE-L will be a difficult and long process for minimal benefits in the real world. 

I’d be shopping for something I will use rather than something that’s just “nice to have”, but again, with a tight budget and high expectations you need to compromise somewhere. Retro fitting most stuff isn’t hard nor expensive. 

Damn we really need to do that full spec comparison one day. You are correct on there being "no trim" trim which was the poorest, I was confident SE came without leather as standard, but every single one today on sale has them... so you may be right. They do not have memory seats which is kind of required in my opinion.

Anyway - I agree that something needs to give here as perhaps expectations does not match reality. That said I can't see any issues with either of the cars OP is currently looking at - they both seems to be decent value and fit the criteria. 

2 hours ago, DnG said:

Nice eye, I did not see the vents cracks, I'm aiming to get it down to £3.500.

What from I've seen on other IS250s the valves do rattle so I'm not 100% sure what sound to listen out for. And as for the oil, I guess if he's a good car salesman he will clean everything and add fresh oil beforehand so that's something I'll have to check later down the road

Both cars 2007 Black and 2010 Grey (it is really dark grey as well) seems well within what you looking for, Grey even has ML. Both have some scuffs and marks, other cosmetic damage which I am sure could form basis for negotiations. Play around with insurance more - I am sure you can get better quote.

The VVti rattle only happens when car is short on oil and cold, so if it was recently services you won't be able to hear it. Also what some dealers do - they come to pick you up from train station, and as result the car is already warm. If it burns oil you won't know either... so nothing you can really check on the engine. 

[J Henderson]

Grey 2010 one would be my pick.

Facelift SE-L is pretty rare and personally speaking, I think it looks better inside and out. I'm not a fan of the bright red wood trim in a dark interior (looks more at home with cream interior, IMO), but that stuff in the facelift looks way more palatable. Facelift exterior is a bit more modern and flashy looking with the newer rear lights, 18s, plus that one even has the rare GFX rear skirt.

118K but no big deal if it's been serviced properly.

[dutchie01]

5 hours ago, DnG said:

Nice eye, I did not see the vents cracks, I'm aiming to get it down to £3.500.

What from I've seen on other IS250s the valves do rattle so I'm not 100% sure what sound to listen out for. And as for the oil, I guess if he's a good car salesman he will clean everything and add fresh oil beforehand so that's something I'll have to check later down the road

Never trust a car salesman. They wont do anything with a 3500 Pound car just buy and sell and hope to make some profit. Best to check the oil yourself. Take out the dipstick, is it at level? look at the color is it nice light brown and smell it, does it smell like oil? Or is it dark to almost black and smells burnt? If so and they tell you it was just serviced walk away immediately. Unscrew the fillercap and look for residue or strange whiter color oil sticking around, if so could be water in oil so again walk away.  The six cylinder engines are rock solid but they do need proper maintenance. Good luck with the test

[Linas.P]

3 hours ago, J Henderson said:

I'm not a fan of the bright red wood trim in a dark interior (looks more at home with cream interior, IMO)

Agree regarding red wood - never liked it and it is strange that GS always had option of grey and red (for some reason it was opposite - red in black interior and grey in grey interior), whereas IS only got it in facelift. 

My pick would also be the 2010 one, provided it has service history, that said I would still try to negotiate it down. Wheels seems to be kerbed, also tyres seems like dodgy budgets. But overall it seems in better shape, even if it has little bit more miles on it. 

Also I kind of prefer 118k over 98k, 98k is the mileage where everything is about to fail, 118k should be the mileage after everything that can fail have failed e.g. spark plugs, o2 sensors and things like that which could be pricey to replace considering how little those cars are worth now. 

2 hours ago, dutchie01 said:

Never trust a car salesman. They wont do anything with a 3500 Pound car just buy and sell and hope to make some profit. Best to check the oil yourself. Take out the dipstick, is it at level? look at the color is it nice light brown and smell it, does it smell like oil? Or is it dark to almost black and smells burnt? If so and they tell you it was just serviced walk away immediately. Unscrew the fillercap and look for residue or strange whiter color oil sticking around, if so could be water in oil so again walk away.  The six cylinder engines are rock solid but they do need proper maintenance. Good luck with the test

You are correct here - used car sales are low margin business, even much more expensive cars don't get much in preparation, even Lexus Used Approved ones. So to expect that £3,500 car will get serviced and all issues fixed is not realistic. It will be exactly the way it was PX'ed + 2 month worth of dust on top. If they take it to the local hand scratchers for £5 wash, that is about as good as it gets. Ok... I am exaggerating a bit - they may take the car to mini-valet for £20 for in and out, then take pictures and park it in the bush.

[DnG]

I would also love the 2010 car but the insurance is £700 higher... Also I doubt they'll knock £400 off the price to get it to £3.500 so I'm way over budget for that one. Hopefully it won't sell by next month when I get more money coming in but I really doubt it. Will go see the 2007 during the weekend.

[zoricib]

49 minutes ago, DnG said:

I would also love the 2010 car but the insurance is £700 higher... Also I doubt they'll knock £400 off the price to get it to £3.500 so I'm way over budget for that one. Hopefully it won't sell by next month when I get more money coming in but I really doubt it. Will go see the 2007 during the weekend.

Are you using any comparison websites for insurance? Also as daft as it sounds, comprehensive insurance is cheaper than 3rd party only, in case that's what you were looking at.